Hebrew word · H6067
עֲנָת
'anat
Anath
A proper name. Outside the Bible it is first of all the name of Anat, the fierce warrior goddess of the Canaanite and Ugaritic myths, sister and ally of Baal, famous for wading in the blood of her enemies.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
A man living before Israel's Monarchy, first mentioned at Jdg.3.31;
father of: Shamgar (H8044)
§ Anath = "answer"
father of Shamgar
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
A proper name. Outside the Bible it is first of all the name of Anat, the fierce warrior goddess of the Canaanite and Ugaritic myths, sister and ally of Baal, famous for wading in the blood of her enemies. The same element appears in Israelite place names: Beth-anath ('house of Anat', in Naphtali, Josh 19:38; Judg 1:33), Beth-anoth in Judah (Josh 15:59), and Anathoth, Jeremiah's town.
- Against the English
English versions simply print 'Shamgar son of Anath', which sounds like an ordinary family name. A Canaanite hearer would have heard the name of a war goddess in it.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Ugaritic myths (the Baal cycle) show Anat as a warrior. Several arrowheads from about the 11th century BC (the El-Khadr arrowheads near Bethlehem and others) carry inscriptions of the form '[name] bn ʿnt' ('son of Anat'). This suggests that 'son of Anat' could be a title for a professional warrior or a member of a fighting guild under the goddess's patronage. Egyptian sources also link Anat with military power.
- Range of meaning
A personal name identical to the name of Anat, the violent warrior goddess of Canaanite myth, who is famous at Ugarit for slaughtering enemies. It also appears in place names such as Beth-anath (Josh 19:38; Judg 1:33) and Anathoth.
- Against the English
Every English version simply writes "son of Anath", which leaves the reader to guess what it means.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Arrowheads from el-Khadr near Bethlehem, dated to the 12th–11th century BC, are inscribed with owners' names. At least one is commonly read as "son of Anat" (bn ʿnt). Some scholars take this as evidence that "son of Anat" could be a title for a warrior, possibly a mercenary. This is debated.
Where it appears
Judges · 2
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Judges 3:31 עֲנָ֔ת Anath
After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath. And he too saved Israel, striking down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.
Here: The same name as Anat, the Canaanite warrior goddess known from the Ugarit texts. It may be his father's name, his hometown (compare Beth-anath, Judg 1:33), or a warrior title meaning something like 'Anat's man'. The text does not say which.
-
Judges 5:6 עֲנָת֙ Anath
In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted and the travelers took the byways.
Here: The name of the Canaanite warrior goddess Anat, well known from texts at Ugarit (an ancient city on the Syrian coast). Here it may be a parent's name, a hometown (Beth-anath), or a warrior title. See debates.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.